Arvid Odland

Telemark University College · Department of Enviromental and Health Sciences (INMH)

This chapter is a review of studies on vegetation dynamics on a freshwater delta ecosystem after a permanent water level drawdown. Floodplain wetlands are globally threatened and have long been recognized as sensitive to changes in the hydrological regime. The original floodplain vegetation types were left “hanging” over the new water level, and se...

It is well known that the population structure of plants in permanent plots change from year to year. Species abundances probably shift with time due to both species biology and variation in environmental factors. The main purpose of the study has been to describe and analyse long-term variation in the abundance (coverage) of blister sedge Carex ve...

In a landscape with patchily distributed forage resources, an animal’s distribution may reflect the distribution of the resources if the population is forage-limited in time or space. This may be particularly explicit in climatically extreme and seasonally variable environments, notably alpine and polar environments during winter. Sustainable manag...

Treelines driven by climatic conditions are characteristic of alpine areas. This study assesses the degree of accuracy with which the TREELIM model predicts present treeline elevation along a regional continentality-maritimity gradient in southwest Norway. The study area consists of 15 sites chosen along this gradient, wherein observed treelines ra...

Optimal foraging models predict that individual animals will optimize net energy gain by intensifying forage activity and/or reducing forage energy cost. Then, the free distribution model predicts an animal's distribution in a patchy landscape will match the distribution of the resources. If not modified by other factors, such patterns may be expec...

Økologisk kunnskap om fortida er en nøkkel til å kunne forstå og forklare dagens variasjon i jordsmonn, plantesamfunn, artsutbredelse og artsmangfold i fjellet. Variasjon i temperatur, isforhold og økologiske prosesser under og etter istiden har skapt grunnlaget for dagens plantesamfunn og økologiske forhold. Forholdene under den varmeste perioden...

Lichen heaths are declining in abundance in alpine and Arctic areas partly due to an increasing competition with shrubs. This shift in vegetation types might have important consequences for the microclimate and climate on a larger scale. The aim of our study is to measure the difference in microclimatic conditions between lichen heaths and shrub ve...

Lichen heaths are declining in abundance in alpine and arctic areas partly due to an increasing competition with shrubs. This shift in vegetation types might have important consequences for the microclimate and climate on a larger scale. The aim of our study is to measure the difference in microclimatic conditions between lichen heaths and shrub ve...

The boundary between the boreal and arctic biomes in northwest Europe has been a matter of debate for many years. Some authors consider that the boundary is marked by the northern limit of tree growth in the northernmost Norwegian mainland. In this study we have collected air and soil temperature data from 37 heath stands from northern Finnmark (71...

Lichen heaths are declining in abundance while shrubs are increasing their range in alpine and arctic areas due to climate change. This can have a large impact on the surface albedo of these areas. The aim of this article is to quantify the difference in albedo between lichen heaths and shrub-dominated vegetation and the variability within lichen h...

Herbivores may have extensive top-down effects in open grazing ecosystems, generating vegetation changes by grazing and trampling. Trampling effects are understudied, but may be a major ecological factor. In cold alpine-Arctic ecosystems grazing and trampling by wild tundra reindeer (Rangifer tarandus) may be particularly important in lichen-domina...

An unfortunate consequence of industrialization and urbanization is the growing environmental pollution. Hazardous compounds enter the environment from various sources such as discharged wastewater, air emissions, domestic and industrial waste sites. Anthropogenic emissions of metals cause considerable pollution problems due to their persistency. M...

Introduction Industrialization and urbanization = growing environmental pollution. Heavy metal contamination and its toxic effects on microb10.1007/978-3-7091-0730-0_1es, plants and animals (A. Zaidi et al. (eds.),Toxicity of Heavy Metals to Legumes and Bioremediation,DOI,#Springer-Verlag Wien 2012) Our aim was to assess genetic diversity in A. fil...

Globally accelerating trends in societal development and human environmental impacts since the mid-twentieth century1-7are known as the Great Acceleration and have been discussed as a key indicator of the onset of the Anthropocene epoch6. While reports on ecological responses (for example, changes in species range or local extinctions) to the Great...

Grazing and trampling by the wide-ranging wild tundra reindeer may have major top down landscape effects by causing vegetation changes. Grazing, as the collective effect of eating, trampling, defecation, and urination, has been studied extensively. In contrast, trampling effects per se are rarely studied, and almost never quantified, even though co...

Mammalian herbivores have important top-down effects on ecological processes and landscapes by generating vegetation changes through grazing and trampling. For free-ranging herbivores on large landscapes, trampling is an important ecological factor. However, whereas grazing is widely studied, low-intensity trampling is rarely studied and quantified...

Geographic variations in air and soil temperatures are dependent on several biotic and abiotic factors. Air temperature has mostly been used to characterize thermal conditions for plant life, and studies of bioclimatic gradients. From a biological point of view, it is also essential to know to what extent soil temperature is coupled with air temper...

Aims: The current paper focuses on quantifying ground vegetation, estimating age, distribution and ecological conditions in 28 birch forest stands. Another key objective of this study was to investigate whether these forests are temperature limited. We also determined if there were any significant differences in ecological conditions between forest...

The alpine treeline ecotone (ATE) is the transition zone between closed forest and the tree-less alpine zone. The main objective of this study is to investigate air and soil temperatures within the ATE from seven different areas which have previously been described to be climatically limited. The study areas include a gradient in oceanity, wherein...

Abstract Aim Previous research on how climatic niches vary across species ranges has focused on a limited number of species, mostly invasive, and has not, to date, been very conclusive. Here we assess the degree of niche conservatism between distant populations of native alpine plant species that have been separated for thousands of years. Locatio...

Previously published isoline maps of Fennoscandian timberlines show that their highest elevations lie in the high mountain areas in central south Norway and from there the limits decrease in all directions. These maps are assumed to show differences in “climatic forest limits”, but the isoline patterns indicate that factors other than climate may b...

Background: Theories regarding patterns of species richness often focus on single factors such as stress, productivity and disturbance, but these have recently been challenged. Vascular plant species richness is also frequently used as a surrogate for richness in other species groups, but species richness relationships have rarely been studied in a...

Recent debate on whether the climatic niche of species is conserved or not in a context of climate change has generally focused either solely on invasive species or on a relatively limited number of native species. However, invasive species may not be optimal for assessing the likelihood of niche conservatism because the time since geographical sep...

AimIn recent decades species ranges have shifted upwards in elevation and northwards in latitude. These shifts are commonly interpreted as a response to recent climate warming. However, several alternative hypotheses have been proposed to explain the elevational shifts, including increased deposition of atmospheric nitrogen, changes in precipitatio...

Scandinavian alpine vascular plants are red-listed (R-L) according to criteria defined by IUCN. These are based on an evaluation of their risk for extinction in the future, which for most alpine plants have been related to possible effects of climate change. In the present study, ecological characteristics of R-L alpine plants are inferred from the...

Quantification of lichen abundance is important for management of reindeer populations. We measured dry lichen biomass in 876 micro plots (16.5 cm × 16.5 cm) systematically sampled within 219 vegetation plots (2 m × 2 m) from 7 different areas in S Norway. Lichen biomass was quantified as: (a) dry weight in g m-2, (b) lichen height in cm, (c) liche...

Vegetation types confined to calcareous bedrocks are often characterized by high species richness, and rare and redlisted plants occur frequently. Snow depth and duration are of particular importance for the floristic composition of mountain vegetation and we therefore wanted to quantify the importance of the date of snowmelt and thereby discuss po...

Complementary description of the four plant communities defined by the hierarchical clustering. Online Resource 2. Photos illustrating a typical Empetrum nigrum die-back in the study region.

We have quantified floristic changes in alpine snowbeds and wetland vegetation during three decades and analyzed to what extent these changes are related to initial variations in snow cover duration and distance to groundwater level. Vascular plant species richness and total plant cover were estimated along three transects in northern Norway. Three...

Recent studies from mountainous areas of small spatial extent (<2,500 km2) suggest that fine-grained thermal variability over tens or hundreds of metres exceeds much of the climate warming expected for the coming decades. Such variability in temperature provides buffering to mitigate climate-change impacts. Is this local spatial buffering restricte...

The increased spread of insect outbreaks is among the most severe impacts of climate warming predicted for northern boreal forest ecosystems. Compound disturbances by insect herbivores can cause sharp transitions between vegetation states with implications for ecosystem productivity and climate feedbacks. By analysing vegetation plots prior to and...

Calciphile alpine vegetation has been a popular study object for more than a century, and numerous vegetation communities have previously been described and classified by phytosociological methods. Such available data give opportunity to explore three main questions in vegetation ecology: (1) Is it justifiable to separate vegetation types (clusters...

Human disturbances in the alpine region can have long-lasting ecosystem effects because biological recovery in harsh environments proceeds slowly. As a by-product of the exploitation of hydroelectricity, surplus masses from tunnel excavations are deposited as spoil heaps in the alpine landscape. The typical management goal for such spoil heaps is t...

Alpine areas have frequently been characterized by having a very short growing season length (GSL). A major problem with such statements is that GSL has no generally accepted definition. This also makes comparisons between results from regional studies difficult. The objective of this study has been to quantify differences in GSL from different stu...

We describe changes in vascular plant richness on 13 high mountain summits based on a historical study performed approximately 40 years ago. A summit is defined as the uppermost 30 m of the mountain tops. The altitudes of the summits range from 1512 to 1814 m. Data from neighboring climatologic stations showed higher mean values for July temperatur...

The main aim of the present paper was to study regional differences in the altitudinal distribution limits of vascular plants in relation to mountain height and latitudinal position. Altitudinal limits from previously studied areas were compared with the altitudinal distribution limits given by Lid and Lid (2005) as a reference. Based on these comp...

Bjune, A. E., Birks, H. J. B., Peglar, S. M. & Odland, A. 2010: Developing a modern pollen–climate calibration data set for Norway. Boreas , Vol. 39, pp. 674–688. 10.1111/j.1502‐3885.2010.00158.x. ISSN 0300‐9483. Modern pollen–climate data sets consisting of modern pollen assemblages and modern climate data (mean July temperature and mean annual pr...

The main aim of this study is to quantify environmental differences along altitudinal gradients on the basis of different sets of plant indicator systems and recorded vascular plants within 100-m altitudinal bands. Two areas are included in the study, and in total they include an altitudinal span from sea-level up to 2400 m a.s.l. The applied indic...

Odland, A. 1995. Frond development and phenology of Thelypteris limbosperma, Athyrium distentifolium, and Matteuccia struthiopteris in Western Norway. — Nord. J. Bot. 15: 225–236. Copenhagen. ISSN 0107–055X. The pattern of growth and phenology of Thelypteris limbosperma, Athyrium distentifolium, and Matteuccia struthiopteris fronds has been investi...

The aims of this paper are to detect floristic variation within different types of tall-fern dominated vegetation and to interpret these patterns in terms of environmental variables. Numerical approaches have been applied to a large and varied vegetational data-set with associated environmental data from stands dominated by Athyrium distentifolium,...

Plants of the fern Matteuccia struthiopteris from northern and southern populations in Norway were studied in a phytotron. Relative growth rate (RGR), growth period, and sporophyll production were measured under different photoperiod (12–24 h) day-length and temperature (9–21 °C) treatments. For the southern plants, there were no significant differ...

The investigation is based on phytosociological and ecological analyses of T. limbosperma-dominated stands from different parts of W Norway. The distribution and floristical composition of the stands are related to different environmental parameters, such as climate, soil and topography. The data are analysed by numerical methods, of which two-way...

This paper presents results of a study on the synecology of Athyrium distentifolium. The investigation is based on phytosociological and ecological analyses of stands dominated by A. distentifolium within its whole distributional area in Western Norway. The distribution and floristic composition of the stands are related to different environmental...

The performance of the ferns Thelypteris limbospgrma and Athyrium distentifolium, as expressed by number of son on pinnules and frond size, has been related to environmental gradients. Data have been collected from homogenous fern-dominated stands from different geographical areas in Western Norway. Number of sori produced, which was assumed to ind...

The comparative ecology of the three species of Polystichum in Hordaland, western Norway, has been studied. Species frequency data and environmental variables were recorded in 132 sample units from 10 different localities. The numerical methods used to analyse these data are two-way indicator species analysis, detrended correspondence analysis, can...

In 31 selected districts in W Norway the vertical distribution of Thelypteris limbosperma has been recorded. Special attention has been paid to the area within which T. limbosperma occurs as a dominant in the vegetation. Both horizontal and vertical distribution areas are related to climatic factors, namely the mean temperature of the wannest and c...

Six tall herb and fern vegetation types in Røldal have been investigated. They are referred to the alliances Lactucion alpinae and Alno–Ulmion. Lactucion alpinae is divided into two suballiances, one oligotrophic to mesotrophic (Dryoptero–Calamagrostenion purpureae) to which are referred Athyrium distentifolium– Salix scrub, and Athyrium distentifo...

The main aim of this paper was to quantify the explanatory power of different "snow variables" for the separation of different mountain vegetation types. Three mountain areas situated along an oceanic-continental gradient were selected as study sites, and the sample plots ranged from 785 to 1440 m a.s.l. (182 m below to 473 m above the climatic for...

The main aim of this paper was to study the responses of mountain plants in relation to the time of snowmelt. Three mountain areas situated along an oceanic–continental gradient were selected as study sites, and the sample plots ranged from 182m below to 473m above the climatic forest limit. In total, 185 quadrats (2m×2m), stratified to include onl...

The main aim of this study was to quantify differences in the structure of dense Matteuccia struthiopteris (L) Todaro among geographically separated populations in Norway, and to relate these differences to variation in environmental variables. A stratified random sampling procedure was applied to select 4m2 quadrats restricted to populations domin...

Differences in vascular plant species richness; along the altitudinal gradient in the Aurland area of western Norway have been investigated. Based on field surveys, as complete lists as possible of all vascular plants have been compiled for each 100 m altitudinal band, from sea level to the highest mountain (1764 m). For each of the 18 altitudinal...

53 Randomly amplified polymorphic DNA analysis was carried out to examine genetic diversity, population structure and polymorphism level among and within seven natural populations of ostrich fern (Matteucciastruthiopteris L., Dryopteridaceae) in Lithuania. In total, 43 plants were analysed using 10 polymorphic decanucleotide primers of random seque...

83 Demographic data and associated phytosociological and environmental va-riables were sampled from 25 populations dominated by the fern M. strut-hiopteris studied in different parts of Lithuania. The main aim was to study the variation in demographic variables such as rootstock thickness, trophop-hyll size, plant density and sporophyll production...

Analysis of random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) was used to determine genetic diversity within the populations of herb-Paris plant from Lithuania and Norway. RAPD analyses have shown 21.9 ± 5.2% of polymorphic loci in the total sample. Polymorphism level in Norwe-gian sample was 20.3 ± 5.0%, and in the Lithuanian one was 21.9 ± 5.2%. The propor...

Fennoscandian mountain vegetation and its ecology has been a field of intensive research for more than a century, and the main aims of the studies have in most cases been to perform regional vegetation descriptions with subsequent phytosociological classifications. The main patterns in species distribution and vegetation composition along important...

Aims and location The potential of pollen records in quantitative climate reconstructions has been widely debated but seldom tested. Our aim is to develop a pollen–climate transfer function for northern Europe and test its performance and inference power by numerical cross‐validation with modern climate data. Annual mean temperature ( T ann ) was a...

The main aim of our study was to investigate seasonal variation in the frequency of abnormal anaphases and mitotic index values in wild populations of herb-Paris (Paris quadrifolia L., Trilliaceae). Plant material was collected in the year 2000 in Norway and in the year 2001 in Lithuania. There was statistically significant variation in the mitotic...

The phenology and development of Paris quadrifolia L. has been related to variations in soil and air temperatures during four seasons (1997– 2000). Its emergence appeared to be strongly dependent on soil tempe-rature. Plants became visible as soon as the daily mean maximum soil temperature reached ca. 7 °C. Variations in soil temperatures could del...

The Myrkdalen Lake, western Norway, was subjected to a ca. 1.4 m permanent drawdown in June 1987. This left the original wetland vegetation belts “hanging” over the new water level. One year after the drawdown, a permanent transect with contiguous 1.0m×0.5 m quadrats was established through a Carex vesicaria wetland belt, and was analysed annually...

Myrkdalen Lake in Western Norway was subjected to a 1.4 mdrawdown in June 1987. Plant establishment and vegetation succession on theexposed sediments of a fluvial delta plain was monitored through 2000. Theinvestigated area extended from the original Equisetumfluviatile zone to the new lake edge. The substrate was homogeneousand consisted mainly of...

Elatine orthosperma has been found on sediments on the shores of the Vangsvatn Lake at Voss. This is the second reported site for this species in Western Norway. It is assumed that is new occurrence here is a result of the resent permanent drop of the water level. On the exposed shore-lines, new sites have been available for the plant, and cultural...

The Myrkdalen lake, western Norway was subjected to a permanent 1.4 m drawdown in June 1987. After the drawdown, channels and artificial islands were constructed within the exposed floodplain system. Two permanent transects were established within this man-made environment, and these have been analyzed annually until 1995. The quadrats lie all on t...

The distribution and abundance of Thelypteris limbosperma, Athyrium distentifolium, and Matteuccia struthiopteris are modelled statistically in relation to 14 environmental variables along the major climatic, topographic, and edaphic gradients in western Norway. The data are from 624 stands from which measurements or estimates of mean January and m...

This paper synthesizes the main results of botanical investigations carried out within the Aurland river catchment. The data include floristic records from the area prior to regulation, data sampling in connection with the hydropower development (1966–1979), and own investigations during 1988–1992. The investigation includes both general data on pl...

This investigation is based on phytosociological and ecological analyses of stands dominated by M. struthiopteris within its main distributional area in Western Norway. The distribution and floristical composition of such stands are related to different environmental parameters such as regional climate, soil and topography. The data are analysed by...

The present altitudinal distribution of Alnus incana in Norway is discussed. The upper limits of forest stands are related to climatic factors. It seems that the forest limit is mainly regulated by temperature conditions. The tree growth is regulated by the warmest period during the day rather than by the mean temperature. -from Authors

A 25 m long transect was positioned along the spray gradient of a waterfall (880 m a.s.l.) in the Aurland River, western Norway. The vegetational composition in contiguous 1 m × 1 m quadrats was recorded in 1968 before regulation of the river, and again 20 years later. Spray precipitation, temperature, and humidity were also measured. The 92 per ce...